The present invention relates generally to point of sale advertising displays, and more particularly to a point of sale advertising display supported by and supporting the product being advertised.
Many supermarkets and other retail establishments display products for sale using various types of displays. To induce customers to purchase their products, supermarkets and retail outlets try to display their products in an attractive manner. When determining whether to use an advertising display in connection with the product for sale, supermarkets and retail outlets consider many factors including the amount of space the advertising displays require, the ease and speed of assembly, the ease of storage, display durability, and the impact of the display on the consumer. On the other hand, product and advertising display manufacturers are concerned with the cost of manufacturing the displays, acceptability of the displays by the sales-force, approval of the displays by the retailers, as well as the impact of the displays on the customers.
Supermarkets and retail businesses have used conventional floor-standing merchandising displays or other display devices adapted to rest on a shelf, counter, or similar supporting surface in connection with the sale of products. Such displays are self-supporting and ordinarily used for displaying and holding individual articles or for advertising products arranged, displayed or stacked nearby. However, these display stands can be wasteful of valuable floor or counter space, relatively expensive, time consuming to assemble, and difficult to collapse or fold into a reasonable size for packaging and shipping. These display stands are also prone to be accidentally knocked over by customers who visit the store. Moreover, many small businesses simply do not have ample space to display independent floor-standing or counter devices and would rather use the space to display the actual products for sale.
Supermarkets and other retail outlets have also utilized display devices configured to be supported by individual products. However, some of these display devices have to be assembled and placed upon each individual product, thereby requiring many display devices to be supplied with the product. This technique is costly, time consuming and impractical. Such display devices also cover and deface or obscure the appearance of the individual products, and customers may have to remove the display devices to purchase each product. Customers who remove the display devices often throw them on the floor where they may become dirty and ruined, or even lost. Thus, employees of the supermarket have to police the products which use these individual display devices to make sure they have not been removed and replace those that have been removed.
Supermarkets and retail outlets usually display packaged products in a uniform manner. Stacks of cans, cartons, bottles, boxes or outer packs are a common sight in today's supermarkets and retail outlets. Ordinarily, the products are merely stacked on top of one another with some form of price card or other promotional message associated therewith. Furthermore, the supermarkets and retail outlets may cut open the top of the product package in order to display the individual products within the package. However, this arrangement alone is unimpressive and does not benefit from the combination of more effective advertising displays used in conjunction with the product being advertised. A display device that can be adapted for use directly with the packaged product, and provide external advertising for the product offered for sale, would be beneficial. Such a display device would further benefit from design simplicity, ease of assembly, and minimum costs.